Ann Lee Peebles

Dr. Ann Lee Peebles was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1947. Her father moved to America in 1948 to attend graduate school. Her mother followed her husband in 1950. She and her sister were left in China under the care of their grandmother. In 1951, during the Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries, her family was condemned as an anti-revolutionary family and came under siege. She lived through a tough childhood as her family endured untold suffering.

She was called an “American daughter” and was discriminated against by the Communist government and society in general. During the Cultural Revolution, she was condemned as a “Black Bastard” (黑崽子).

1972: she was allowed to leave China; 1973: she arrived in America and reunited with her parents. She initially worked as a house-cleaning lady and afterwards as a nurse assistant in various convalescent homes. This allowed her to attend college and independently support herself.

1975: she received a California State scholarship and attended the UCLA School of Engineering. She received her BS, Master’s, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.

1981: she was named as a UCLA Graduate Woman of the Year. 1982: she was honored as one of the Outstanding Young Women of America; she also received the Outstanding PhD Candidate award at UCLA.

After her PhD graduation in 1982, she worked for the Aerospace and Defense Industry in Southern California. During her tenure, she received many US and European Invention Patent awards.